In the prior art, the testing of surface salinity can be a complicated and inexact procedure. Generally a conductivity meter is used that includes a sensor cell and samples are prepaired independently. The samples are prepared by washing an exact area of the surface to be tested with an exact quantity of water or other solution. Any deviation in the size of the area or the amount of water or solution will cause substantial deviations in the sample and substantial errors in the test. As understood by those skilled in the art, preparing a sample from different surfaces, e.g. inside surfaces of pipes, outside surfaces of pipes, ceilings, walls, etc., can be challenging. Further, once the sample is prepared the conductivity meter must be zeroed and then the sample must be placed on the testing cell of the meter and the conductivity measured. Clearly, the multiple transfers of the materials making up the sample, from the surface to a container and then to the cell of the meter, can introduce foreign materials that will affect the testing as well as seriously affecting the amount of materials in the sample (especially the water or solution).
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved testing device and method.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved testing device and method capable of performing a variety of tests.
And another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved surface testing device and method capable of performing tests on a variety of surfaces.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved testing device and method that is self-contained to include washing, mixing, and testing in a single operation.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved testing device and method in which all of the steps of the test are performed using the single device to eliminate transferring materials between several containers.